I have been working on a reprint of one of our books these past six months. It is a “special” book in that it needs to be processed as a duotone, as opposed to our usual full color cover and black and white interior. This is my first duotone book and because of certain production and design snafus, it is also the most troublesome book I’ve worked on.
This led me to reflect on the subtle and not-so-subtle challenges of picking up books that others have worked on previously. Much of the process includes piecing together bits and pieces of the production process that are either out of date, forgotten, or completely new.
When the original designer of the book handed the files to me, I only saw a big mess. The images were in various modes and the fonts were not importing correctly. I only have a functional knowledge of InDesign so these image problems were definitely out of my skill set. It may have served me better to start with the raw manuscript, but of course, this was unavailable.
Working on limited budget and resources, I had to reign in our staff designer and a former volunteer graphic design intern. It was a nightmare to plan, but as scheduling and design gods have allowed, we moved along the production–stumbling along the way.
Six months, for most production schedules for reprints, may seem too long despite the book’s design challenges. For a small publisher, the process feels longer, particularly when manpower is stretched and other books push it further back.
This made me realize the patience required of me to plan clearly and calmly with projects like this. With the demands of newer books in production and my own personal schedule, it is a tough juggling act that I have to perform quickly. It requires tact and grace to push the book through completion as efficiently as possible. But I also have to think of the designers I work with and not forget to be grateful for their work.
The beauty of a small publishing house and of one driven by a mission other than profit is that you begin to understand the relationships between the different departments. As cliches would have it, we are not only cogs in the machine, but links on a chain as well. Without one aspect or link, we grow weaker and fall apart. Books that challenge us in different parts of its acquisition, production, and launch emphasize the importance of maintaining these relationships. We all recognize the need to finish our task, but we also continually learn to cope with bad days, bad news, and awful technical glitches.
I sent the book to preflight last week and it came back with a lengthy report of errors and glitches. It went back to the designer and intern today and I hope for some good news. Tomorrow calls for another juggling act and I hope this time when I toss those pins in the air, they land in my hands with grace and ease.
If not, I’m sure (lots of) coffee will get me through it.
